Atlantic provinces get climate change money

Atlantic Canada's provinces are joining forces withthe federal government to fund projects aimed at helping communities adapt to climate change.

Atlantic Canadian communitieswill receive a combined $8.2 million.

The money will fund an initiative called the Atlantic Climate Adaptation Solutions Projectand will target issues such as coastal erosion, flooding and ground water resource management.

Theinitiative will involve 64 partners across the Atlantic region in local projects. Thepartnersinclude federal, provincial and municipal governments, industry, academia and aboriginal and non-governmental organizations.

The federalminister for theAtlantic Gateway, Keith Ashfield, joined provincial environment ministers at Cape Jourimain, N.B., onFriday to make the announcement,with the Confederation Bridge as the backdrop.

Ashfield said Ottawa is kicking in $3.5 million of the funding to help communities deal with a number of issues.

"The project will advance adaptation, planning, decision making in the areas of reduction of risk to coastal and inland waters, revision of infrastructure standards protection of ground water resources and enhancement of community planning," said Ashfield, the member of Parliament for Fredericton.

P.E.I. Environment Minister Richard Brown said climate change is one of the most critical environmental issues facing his province.

He said P.E.I. is particularly vulnerable when it comes to coastal erosion.

"Over the last 11 years, Prince Edward Island has applied to the federal government for $24 million worth of disaster assistance claims submitted as a result of storm events and related to flooding erosion and wind damage and wash out, " said Brown.

Nova Scotia Environment Minister Sterling Belliveau said many communities are experiencing serious impacts due to extreme weather events.

The AtlanticCanadian provincialrepresentatives agreed that the effects of climate change are already costing millions of dollars each year, suggesting it's better to find solutions than to continue to pay for clean-ups.